Wednesday, 28 November 2012

I have often tried to meditate and as I start at my toes and relax each part of my body I am usually told to find my "Happy Place". It is supposed to be somewhere in my imagination that is the most wonderful place of peace and solitude. The first obstacle to this is the difficulty managing to get the time to sit quietly and have no one interrupt me. Then it is a matter of relaxing my mind and emptying it of all those worries that I turn over and over and sometimes I end up very far from my "Happy Place".

However I have found another way. When I paint I find I hit that zone that I have tried for years to achieve, without even trying. I find that I sometimes don't hear people talking to me - evident when I nearly jump outof my skin when someone walks into the room without me even realising they are there . Time passes by and I feel a calmness come over me that I have never found any other way. I am sure that many of you have also found your "Happy Place" this way and for those of you who haven't now is the time. It doesn't have to be painting , it may be reading , sitting on a beach or even laying on the grass and looking up at the clouds like we did when we were kids. But do it now!! This is the time for all of us to make time for those magic minutes, where we are truly doing something for ourselves and our souls. Sometimes we let weeks go buy without doing the things that make us happy and we can't get that time back again, so go on and give yourself a gift this week and spend time in your Happy Place - I have never heard anyone say they wished they had done less of the things they Love.

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Anyone who knows me, knows my association with Butterflies. Since Mum passed away a couple of years ago I have watched for butterflies as it was like a sign from her to let me know she was still around me. The number I have seen has increased especially when I missed her or needed her the most. But yesterday I was overwhelmed. As I drove home I could not believe my eyes - there were hundreds of them all along the way. They flew in groups or pairs all flying in the same direction, around me and across my path. How could it be that hundreds of butterflies were surrounding me. So I looked into how this could happen and I found that some butterflies including the Macleays Grass Yellow Butterfly (the ones I saw) become dormant when hard times come and then all come awake again together. What an amazing experience. Sometimes life feels like it is dormant but then it comes alive again. I hope I get to witness this again it was magnificent.

Friday, 16 November 2012

Well today is the first day of the rest of my Life. My Creative life anyway. After a couple of months of working out some styles of paintings and putting them together with words that I think I want people to remember each day, I feel like I am ready to start a new part of my life.

Although I have talked to my family about all my ideas I never have talked to anyone else for fear of failure to get going. But this time I felt a change. That special feeling when you really start to believe that things you have always wanted to do are finally happening. I had someone I know offer to put my paintings up for people to buy - sight unseen just from my ideas. Then I magically found two artists whose spirit and enthusiasm touched my heart and showed me that there are ways to incorporate creative loves into the ordinary daily life and be a better person for it. The first of these two was Jane Davenport who is like a breathe of fresh air and who loves to share her passion and creativity.The second was Kelly Rae Roberts who captivated me firstly for her art but more so with her generosity of spirit and wish for us all to be creative.

The Planets have been aligning or was it the recent Eclipse but the most exciting puzzle piece fell into place last weekend when an act of the most beautiful kindness happened to me. Two friends who have always been a tower of strength arrived at my house with an enormous amount of excitement. Imagine my surprise when Ann-Maree and Peter arrive bearing gifts that could change my life, a Scanner and Printer which enable my creative adventures to soar.The beauty of their selflessness brought me to tears. I always knew there were Earth Angels but I never knew how close they were to me.Thank you for your gift - the gift of your friendship and your faith in me.